Seven Days of Christmas
by Yakushi-Hime
Summary: My belated Christmas fic, which indeed only covers two days, lol. Slightly AU, set during timeskip, no pairings, various characters, unlikely to be finished, slight OOCness, possibly. Helpful critique appreciated.
1. Day One: Konohagakure

**_A/N: _**Um, so, okay, I actually wrote this back during December, I swear. xD I'm just lazy and never got around to posting it until now, haha! Sorry. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these two chapters of Christmas silliness; I'm sorry it's unfinished, but I just...ran out of steam. D: Sorry.

No pairings, really. I mean, some canon crushes and junk (Sakura's feelings for Sasuke are hard to ignore), but no romance, really. Set during the timeskip, and AU by the very existence of Christmas in such a Japanese culture. xD

* * *

_Surely you've heard,  
__In whole or in part,  
__How Christmas can warm  
__Even the coldest of hearts_

_So on this winter morn  
__Let us take a peek  
__Inside seven days  
__Of a Christmas week_

_No ordinary glance,  
__However, today,  
__For we shall catch glimpses  
__Of shinobi's ways_

_Of celebrating Christmas  
__Oh can it be true?  
__For ninja, you see,  
__Have Christmases, too_

_From Oto to Leaf  
__The Sand and the Mist  
__Akatsuki and others  
__Are on Santa's list_

_So let's peek into  
__Imagination and time  
__And into the lives  
__Of shinobi fine..._

* * *

DAY ONE  
Friday, December 19  
Konoha Village

"Thank you for shopping, and merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" Sakura smiled cheerily at the store worker as she returned the seasonal greeting. Gathering her packages, the pretty kunoichi shuffled towards the door, a happy look brightening her face.

She had reason to be happy. She'd just completed the last of her Christmas shopping - and with a whole seven days leftover, which was quite the feat. Christmas was always a hectic time of year, despite the fact that the mission load was comparatively light. Missions may come less often, but Tsunade-sama just used this as an excuse to push her all the harder in training. The Sannin always lessened up around Christmas week, but the rest of the holiday season was packed with training sessions. In addition, Sakura was a well-connected girl, with lots of friends and acquaintances; she was invited to most of the major parties each year, and made a point of finding time in her already busy schedule to go.

Thus, Sakura Haruno was feeling rather proud of herself as she turned her back to the store's door and pushed her way through, carefully balancing the boxes and bags in her arms so as not to cause an avalanche of merchandise. As she stepped out of the warm shelter the store provided, the cold hit her like...like...well, like someone had just crashed right into her, sending her purchases cascading to the icy ground.

"Aa-aah!" The kunoichi's backward tumble was halted much more gently than she'd expected, and she glared up into the embarrassed face (or, well, she assumed it was embarrassed...hard to tell with that darn mask) of her old sensei, Kakashi Hatake.

"Maa, sorry about that...you're alright, ne?" The silver haired perpetrator chuckled in a way that was irritatingly nonchalant.

"Sensei--! You--! Aaahhh, what is wrong with you?!" Spluttering in annoyance, Sakura scrambled out of Kakashi's arms, a suspicious frown on her formerly smiling face.

"Gomen, gomen..." Waving his hand apologetically, the infamous Copy Ninja handed her one of the fallen gifts. "You see, I was reading the newest Icha Icha volume and got...distracted. Jiraiya-sama sent it to me for Christmas, you know."

Even with the mask, Sakura could see Kakashi's grin light up like a kid's in a toy shop. For a moment, her frown softened, and she almost smiled at her ever-childish sensei's antics.

Then she remembered how very _un_childish his books were, and she could only sigh in resignation and accept the offered package.

"...thank you. What are you doing here, anyway? Surely not Christmas shopping...I'm sure you'd be the kind of person to wait until the very last day."

Kakashi, in the middle of bending over to pick up a bag, glanced up with a hurt frown. "Hey hey, don't say that...it takes time to find the perfect gift for everyone, that's all..."

Sakura frowned reprovingly and shook her head in silent remonstrance, not buying a word of it.

Kakashi grinned privately, and handed her the bag. "But anyway, that's a lot of packages you've got...any of those for me?" His visible eye creased into a smile, and he tilted his head just slightly in a way that was incredibly like one of his summon dogs.

Unable to repress a sly smile, the teenager readjusted the packages now reoccupying her arms as she shifted her weight. "Now Sensei, this is not the time of year to be asking questions... Mm. Let's see." As best she could, Sakura took silent inventory of her haul, to be sure she had everything she needed.

_Makeup set for Ino, check. Clothes in a color other than green and in more than one piece for Lee-kun, check. Volume One of_ How to Get Sober in Five Months _for Tsunade-sama, check. Medical supplies for Shizune-san, boxes of candy canes for the rest of my friends, slippers for Mom, bathrobe for Dad, card for Iruka-sensei, scarf for Kakashi-sensei - all check. I already sent Naruto his present, so that just leaves...wait._

_Where is it?_

Suddenly appearing frantic, Sakura sifted through her packages and turned around to scan the ground behind her. How could the one gift that was most important be--

"Looking for this?"

Sakura accepted the package, smiling nervously. "Oh, y-yes... Arigatou, Kakashi-sensei..."

The jounin nodded solemnly, and Sakura averted her green eyes. So he'd seen it then.

The gift.

It was nothing magnificent - just a simple silver picture frame engraved with the words "we miss you" and "come home soon, Sasuke."

"...do you always buy him a gift?"

"..." Silence stretched between them, until Sakura broke it quietly. "I have to go, Kakashi-sensei. See you later." Fighting the urge to cry, she left Kakashi gazing after her with a deep-seated pity in his dark eye.

As she sat on her bed that evening, alone in the dark of her room, Sakura clutched the frame to her chest and silently refused to cry. It was Christmas, for heavens' sake! Couldn't she enjoy even that without ihis/i memory throwing a gloomy cast on things...?

And yet...she had bought him a gift. Knowing it was folly. Knowing she was clutching to a shadow of the past. Knowing that it would do nothing to bring him back....she had spent the money and bought the gift.

Shuddering, she suppressed the sob in her throat and blinked rapidly. Did they even celebrate Christmas in the Sound? Orochimaru was a former Konoha-nin, so maybe...just maybe...

Either way, she knew it would be a lonely and miserable Christmas.

Would he miss his team, his friends, his...family?

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Sakura stood and set the frame aside, face down, so that she couldn't see the mockingly happy faces of her old team grinning up at her.

The phone rang.

"_Heeeeeey, Sakura! What's up, girl?! We're still on for tomorrow, right?_"

Sakura smiled, then, and not too sadly.

Her family was healthy and happy. Her friends were still very present and willing to celebrate. Her team...had been ripped asunder. But still...she had more to be grateful for Sasuke did.

So, in his memory, she would be happy. Because there weren't enough happy people in this world.

"Yeah, of course, Ino. . . . Three o'clock at the tea place, right? . . . See you then..."


	2. Day Two: Otogakure

_**A/N: **_Language warning for Sasuke's mouth. Just one word, but still. Be warned.

* * *

DAY TWO  
Saturday, December 20  
Current Oto Base

"So...what do you want for Christmas?"

"..." Sasuke stared blankly at the medic, a dull sort of confusion on his face. "You celebrate Christmas." It was supposed to be a question, but it came off more like a suspicious statement.

Kabuto shifted medical supplies around the metal tabletop, organizing them with meticulous care. He returned Sasuke's gaze over the top of his round glasses, which were slipping dangerously low. "Is that so odd? I believe most people do celebrate the holiday...now come on, what do you want?"

The dark-haired Uchiha's eyes narrowed in distrust, but he appeared to consider the question. For several minutes, nothing could be heard aside from the clinking and clanging of metal on metal from Kabuto's careful sorting.

"...a new kunai holster."

Kabuto glanced up, smiling evenly. "Ah, see now, that wasn't so hard, was it? A bit unimaginative, maybe, but all the same..." Setting aside a pile of scalpels, the silver-haired spy shoved his slipping glasses into place with the back of his hand.

Sasuke frowned at the insult. "It's not unimaginative, it's useful. Useless gifts are...useless."

"Oooh, what a brilliant deduction."

"Shut up, you know what I mean."

Kabuto grinned as he ambled across the room (which was either a lab or a medical ward...Sasuke figured that those were pretty much synonymous in Sound) and scribbled something in a spiral-bound notebook. "Well then, I'll see what I can do. Honestly though, was that such a shocking question? Don't you celebrate Christmas? Or are the Uchihas just above such mortal things as holidays?"

The dark-haired genin's frown was superseded by a tired glare. "...I just don't like Christmas. It's annoying and stupid. Waste of effort and money."

Kabuto cocked an eyebrow as he closed the notebook. "...is that so? My, doesn't someone sound bitter." Turning around with a smirk, the medic crossed his arms and leaned back, relying on the metal countertop for support.

"Look who's talking."

"Mm? What's this? Arguing again...? _Tsk tsk_...such children." Orochimaru's snaky presence entered the room, and the powerful shinobi grinned slyly.

"Of course not, Orochimaru-sama. I was merely asking Sasuke-kun what he wanted for Christmas - and while we're on the topic, is there anything you'd like, sir?"

The Sannin shook his head with a knowing grin. "I see you haven't stopped observing that quaint holiday..."

Kabuto shrugged. "Leftover habit from Konoha, I suppose."

"Mm. There's not really anything I need, exactly. I guess I could use a new pair of slippers..."

Sasuke stared blankly at the leader of Sound. _Did he just say...slippers?_

"Ah, sounds good. And in case anyone's asking, I could use a new notebook or two." Kabuto tapped the notebook on the metal countertop behind him to emphasize his point.

"Out already?"

"Well, you know, they go by pretty quickly..."

It was bizarre, watching two of Leaf's most dangerous enemies chatting amicably about Christmas gifts. And neither of them seemed to recognize the complete oddity of the scene.

Those two... It would never cease to amaze Sasuke, their audacity in behaving like normal human beings when they clearly were anything but.

Sasuke just shook his head and left.

That afternoon, the spiky-haired young missing-nin sat alone on the bed in his quarters, attempting to study the scrolls he'd been assigned to memorize by his odd-but-powerful sensei. However, he was finding it difficult to focus on the complicated jutsu discussed in the text. Setting the scroll he had been reading aside, Sasuke sighed in frustration and sat on the edge of his bed, facing the door with a sullen glare.

Why couldn't he focus?! For some reason, his thoughts kept wandering to Konoha and all of the memories he'd tried to leave behind there: that stupid face Naruto made when he was trying to act cool, and Sakura's annoying clinginess, and the time he'd almost been disqualified from the Chuunin Exam finals because of his Sensei's laziness... And other memories that he had never tried to forget, despite the pain they caused him: Mother's laugh, and way Father's eyes softened just a bit when he kissed his her, and Itachi...the old Itachi. The one who had told him stories about Santa Clause and reindeer and-- and he had trusted him whole-heartedly, back then, and like an idiot he'd believed every word of it.

Just like he'd believed that his brother actually loved him.

But, in the end, his brother was a liar...he had never meant any of it.

Sasuke blinked suddenly, frowning in realization. _Oh. Now I get it. This is Kabuto's doing, isn't it? That bastard!_ The Uchiha let out a strangled growl and flopped backwards onto his bed. Of course the devious medic would have known that Sasuke had many painful memories associated with Christmas, so he'd brought it up, just to mess with his head. Kabuto was always doing things like this - toying with people's emotions and thoughts. Where did he get the arrogance to run around getting under a person's skin with his creepy mind games like that?

Feeling his hatred for Orochimaru's right-hand ninja rise a few more notches, Sasuke brushed dark bangs out of his eyes, a devilish smirk on his face. Two could play at that game._Y_

_ou wanna celebrate Christmas, lapdog? Just you wait...this'll be a Christmas you'll never forget._


End file.
